Once upon a time, Brian asked if I had plans for the few eggs that were remaining in our fridge. Not thinking the entire conversation through, I said no and Brian proceeded to make me the best scrambled eggs I’d had in a long time.
Later that evening, I was making Smokin’ Hoppin’ John (black eyed peas and rice) from one of my favorite cookbooks.
And I remembered that I intended to make corn bread to go with it. And corn bread has eggs in it.
I quickly googled “egg substitutes” and came up with a couple possibilities.
Then I opened my copy of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (aka “my kitchen bible”) in search of my usual corn bread recipe. And there, in a lovely green box just before the recipe was a section titled “To Make Any Bread Vegan.” I didn’t want vegan bread per se, since I did have milk, but I needed to do something about the egg.
In the end, I followed Mark Bittman’s advice and mixed together 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and a 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, which I then substituted for the one egg the recipe called for. Then I crossed my fingers.
I was pleasantly surprised when the corn bread turned out great. It was one of the moistest ones I’ve made, actually.
Everything I read said that the fewer eggs the recipe calls for, the easier it is to substitute. This is the only time I’ve ever substituted for eggs, but it definitely did the trick. Who knew saving dinner could be so easy?
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In other news, as you read this I am on my way to the 2011 Healthy Living Summit in Philadelphia! I’m so excited about connecting with old and new friends, networking with companies and learning how to improve Relishments. See you next week!
Another good egg substitute is 2 tbs water + 2 tbs veg oil + 1 tsp baking powder per egg. Whisk until fully combined and add as you would your egg. I’ve used this in lots of baked goods and have had excellent luck. Like your version it’s great because they are things that you generally have on hand. If you’re only replacing 1 egg you can also use one mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce. Those don’t provide the leavening though of the oil/water/baking powder mix and they can change the flavor, but they work well in breakfast breads.
Ooo, that is a good one! Thanks! I’m sure it won’t be long before I find myself without eggs again.
Thanks for this! I needed a sub for egg in cornbread too. It’s cooking now…lets hope it turns out like yours did!
Glad I could help! I’d love to hear whether the substitution worked out for you. Thanks for reading.
Can you post the cornbread recipe or a link to it? I’ve been trying to make cornbread without eggs and all of my results have come out horribly. I’ve been using flaxseed meal and water, but the texture is off. I’d love to try your recipe since it was successful.
Hi Stacey!
I use Mark Bittman’s cornbread recipe, which can be seen here: http://markbittman.com/recipe/corn-bread/
The first amount is 1 and 1/4 cups, in case that’s not clear.
Hope this works for you!
I tried this tonight and it totally failed :( I was using a different recipe, but the cornbread totally fell apart. Now I have a bowl of cornbread crumblies :)
Oh no! I’m so sorry it didn’t work for you! I hope you can find a use for those crumbs (perhaps sprinkled over chili?)
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Just made the most amazing corn bread I’ve ever had!! Thank you so much!!
Thanks Tyler! I’m glad to hear that it turned out so well.
If you know others who might like this advice, please pass it along.
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Excellent post. I will be going through many of these issues as well..